Travel is what’s animating Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia at Oscar de la Renta now. An October trip to Dubai to meet clients set them on their path for Fall. Backstage they shared a picture of Alex Bolen, the company’s CEO, playing the museum tourist there. The idea is less about a specific place than it is about celebrating the riches beyond the next closed door. That’s why they chose the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, Spain, as the reference point for their set. They liked its layers of history, both Islamic and Christian. Presumably, de la Renta did too. Cordoba was a place he often visited, they shared.
The show opened with sellable, polished tailoring. An extended riff on tweeds, menswear checks, and spice colors, it was true to the house heritage—de la Renta always opened with suiting, too—but streamlined for the current moment. The houndstooth sheath with a bias-cut inset of Prince of Wales check at the hem was winning. Daywear cycled into evening wear via a series of carpet prints and carpet jacquards. The print dress was representative of the softer, lighter garments that are proving successful for Kim and Garcia among a younger clientele.
Antique carpets were the dominant motif in the after-dark section. The designers worked the metaphor on a short cocktail number trailing fringe, on a strapless wrap with the ease of a sarong, and on a lovely sleeveless column in tufted fil coupe with a train that traced the flower borders. Texture and pattern played key roles in the other evening knockouts, which combined black tulle with jewel-tone laser-cut silk velvet. For the most part, Kim and Garcia moved away from the ball gowns of Oscar de la Renta collections past. Bella Hadid’s finale number retained those grand proportions, only with the arabesque tessellations of Islamic decoration for a design. New and old, far and wide—this formula is working for them.
Photo courtsey of Alessandro Lucioni / Gorunway.com
From vogue.com
